DR. AMBEDKAR AND THE HINDU CODE BILL 921
Sir, you will pardon me if I say that the Hon. Law Minister would not have dealt with the House in the way he is proposing to do, hurling insults upon individual Members of the House if it were not for the declaration of the hon. the Leader of the House that he stands or falls with this Code.
Shri Syamnandan Sahaya : Forget that. That is not the position now.
Shri Biswanath Das : I am not speaking to the Members : I am speaking to you, Sir. I will be happy if the Members will leave me alone, though I very much like and appreciate their help.
Therefore, I claim that the Hon. Law Minister has not been fair to the hon. Members of this House.
Then, I come to the second assertion that he made and that is the declaration that there is lack of commonsense in those who demand a common code for India. Why ? I should have been glad to be favoured with reasons for an insult which I claim is not merited. He said not only that but he proceeded further and said that he could present a Civil Code in two days.
Dr. Ambedkar : Yes.
Shri Biswanath Das : Then by all means, let him do so. We have been waiting for it for the last so many months. If it is possible to let us have a common Civil Code in two days, by all means let us have it. Let him then favour us with it.
Dr. Ambedkar : That will do, Mr. Das. You will exhaust yourselves. Conserve your energy. You are not in best of health, I find.
Shri Biswanath Das : I take note of the advice tendered by my, hon. friend.
I do confess that the caste system will do no good to India, that the sooner it goes the better. I cannot think of a society living on the Bhat Handi system, on a system which says that if anyone touches my pot of Bhat or cooked rice, or my roti, caste is violated, because he does not belong to my caste. That is harmful. Let us do away with that system. The sooner we do that the better. At the same time, do I not realise that my ancestors, my forefathers have founded a system much nobler and much higher than the Bhat Handi system ?
चातुवर्ण्य मया सृष्ट गुणकर्म स्वभावश:
I created the four Varnas (i.e., fourfold castes) according to the Gunas (i.e., qualities), Karmas (i.e., action) and the svabhavas (i.e., natures)